In defence of Shared Services Canada

The Statistics Canada offices at Tunney's Pasture, in Ottawa, are seen on May 1, 2013. GDP statistics data are expected to be released by Statistics Canada today, Tuesday, September 1, 2015, indicating whether or not the Canadian economy is officially in recession. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Wayne Smith is a life-long public servant. He has dedicated his life to serving the people of Canada through a distinguished career at Statistics Canada. We can celebrate his good work and the accomplishments of the world-class organization that he used to run. The excellent institution that Canadians are so proud of was built through the hard work of generations of StatsCan employees and leaders.

Smith used the announcement of his recent retirement to castigate the government for its implementation of Shared Services Canada, arguing in a CBC interview that its inefficiency has “compromised Statistics Canada’s independence.”

StatsCan is the product of a broader Canadian governance ecosystem that is the envy of the world. This connected institutional infrastructure reflects the collective search for “peace, order and good government” that has resulted in a series of institutions that manage different areas of public policy. Our success depends on a shared understanding of how to exercise policy and program leadership, administrative efficiency and effectiveness in an interdependent governance ecosystem.

In 1918, the Canadian government created the Dominion Bureau of Statistics in order to “provide statistical information and analysis about Canada’s economic and social structure” and “to promote sound standards and practices”. It was created as a shared service for all the Canadian government. The organization has flourished because it is a product of an entire system that values the sustainable nature of its contribution to an evidence-based public policy and program environment. Its legal authorities reflect this reality and its operational culture supports it. And it is part of a broader portfolio of government since in the Westminster ecosystem all departments and agencies must function under the paramount behaviors associated with ministerial accountability.

But in the space of just a few decades, the governance ecosystem in Canada has experienced rapid shifts in the face of a digitally transforming culture and strong pressures that are reshaping the state, civil society and the public at large. These enormous changes in our social fabric have not been adequately reflected in the structures and modes of most governing institutions. The pace of change is so rapid that governments are having difficulty adapting to this transforming environment.

Many elected officials and public servants recognize the need for change but it’s a matter for argument whether sustained effort has been invested in overhauling government and modernizing the governance ecosystem. It is not always clear what the specific issues are or what the required changes might be. The disruption of traditional relationships, their replacement by new ones, and the constantly shifting context mean that governing institutions are having trouble understanding and adapting to realities that are shifting more quickly than those institutions can respond. What we do know is that the substantial distribution of information combined, with near-instantaneous global connectedness, means that no one institutional organization or government can any longer hold the monopoly on information, or even on convening capacity.

So the value proposition for the modernization of government operations is clear. But it will not happen without an unrelenting focus on adapting governance, institutions and systems and their connections to policy and programs in this interconnected world. Good governance is about steering the ship of government so that all oars of the boat row in the same direction to reach a new destination more effectively. Steering comes in the form of accountability processes required to review and to make investment decisions based on business cases, implementation plans, and evaluation of outcomes.

In this new, networked world, governments must learn to balance accountability between multiple partner organizations with these new outcomes in mind. As more stakeholders emerge from their silos and organizations partner to deploy and align their resources to a common objective, the proper delegation of power and decision-making authority is an inevitable question that will need to be resolved. Not all organizations will need to restructure or reorganize. Effective governance should make existing structures work towards the new common purpose. The work, in spelling out these arrangements, must be highly focused and relentless. Cooperation, coordination and collaborative relationships are key to meeting these challenges.

Which brings us to Shared Services Canada. The modernization effort that is overhauling government is sorely needed. Having forty-three departments and agencies with one hundred largely incompatible email systems, well over three hundred major data centres, and hundreds of overlapping telecommunications networks is not sustainable. The ongoing funding for maintaining (but not improving) this fragmented, old, costly infrastructure cannot continue. Years ago, the Auditor General called for a government-wide plan to address the inefficiencies and risks posed by this situation. These are unique and particular risks in a world where information and data ecosystems are the new currency. In an age where governments have declared themselves open-by-default and digital-by-default, hermetically sealed silos in government cannot be the order of the day.

Shared Services Canada has seen more than its share of implementation problems. At its heart, this initiative is about tackling cultural barriers within institutions and moving the focus from the department and agency to inter-departmental and inter-governmental initiatives. In this cultural war, the residual emphasis on the vertical dimension of government jeopardizes whole-of-government initiatives like Shared Services Canada.

Insisting too strongly on the vertical nature of funding, budgetary, and process requirements, especially when these do not threaten policy or program authorities of individual organizations, puts whole-of-government modernization at risk. Inhibiting the use of sharing platforms and IT infrastructure across the system diminishes the medium and longer-term effectiveness and efficiency of the entire modernization effort. The government historically has under-invested in turning IT professionals into senior public service executives. It would be wise to learn from the circumstances playing out before us and invest more significantly in growing IT professionals into broader, more effective government managers who can overcome the siloed cultural barriers to build a new, whole-of-government approach and culture.

Which brings us back to Statistics Canada, and the remarks of Wayne Smith about Shared Services Canada. The government of Canada’s much needed modernization depends on the success of Shared Services Canada in ensuring that Statistics Canada has the capacity to do its job within the new governance ecosystem. This means a resolute focus on fixing the issues at Shared Services Canada and a collaborative approach between it and Statistics Canada to serve the modernization efforts of the government. The effectiveness of our interdependent governance ecosystem depends on it.

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